Day 88, 89, 90 of Sheltering In

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Tuesday I went to the orthopedic doctor for my R knee. That was not fun. The last several X-rays I was lying on my R side, told to put my L leg over my right thigh, then point my L foot to the left. That pretzel pose woke up my sciatica on the L side. Fabulous. The pain did lessen after medication, however, every nerve, muscle, and tendon was pulled taunt. And I mean taunt. I slept badly.

Wednesday first full session of R shoulder PT. My L leg was still very tight. I also have an order for PT for my R knee, but they are ignoring it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Afterward every single joint, except the ones in my hands, was hurting. I went home, medicated, and iced my R shoulder and back.

Thursday. More R shoulder PT. Afterward my son and I went next door to Starbucks. I ordered on my phone and had my son go in to pick up. So much easier. The drive through was at least 10 cars deep with 4 cars waiting to get in line. I like ordering on my phone so I can see the nutritional information and see how many pumps of sugared syrup. I always customize by reducing by 1 or 2 pumps. Less sugar, less carbs, and I prefer the drinks that way because I think the standard recipes are way too sweet for me. I did some grocery shopping after that. Not a lot. We needed cat food and litter and I just bought a few other items. I got home, medicated and iced my R shoulder and back twice. So glad I picked up another reusable ice/cold pack last week.

I don’t know if you all have seen or heard that Saturday is National No Mask Day. 

I saw it on Facebook. What the hell is the matter with people? Are they not happy that the number of cases of coronavirus is very much increased for the states that opened early? Saturday will be my Sunday. Translation-I will be staying home Saturday instead of my usual Sunday. I have to do a porch drop at my daughter’s group home, so that will be Sunday.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020

Day 86, 87 of Sheltering In

Sunday, Monday. Did not leave the house on Sunday. (Which is what Sunday is supposed to be, for me, anyway.) I watched QVC’s In the Kitchen With David. It’s my guilty pleasure. Sometimes I get new recipe ideas, or learn more about using a new kitchen item. Very rarely I make a purchase. Last purchase was a set of 3 different sized scoops. One ice cream size, one meatball size and one cookie or melon baller size. I cannot recall what I did for the rest of the day.

Monday. Again, did not leave the house, but spent over 2 hours on the phone regarding benefits. And I get to do it again after I schedule another appointment. It won’t take as long, thankfully.

Tuesday I am back at the orthopedic doctor for my right knee. I can’t wait to find out what fun, unnatural positions they put my knee in for x-rays. My brother in law will be back again to not mow the backyard. He did trim back most of the eucalyptus bushes. Of course, not all of them. I’ve got a ton of cut eucalyptus branches.

I cannot find a thing to watch on the streaming services. ☹️

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020

Day 85 of Sheltering In

Saturday. Oh my word! My daughter is driving us all crazy. Friday and Saturday the group home staff had my daughter isolating in her room. Friday they refused to give her 4pm meds and a breathing treatment. So once again I had to open a can of whoop ash and send the team lead an email that spelled out that staff cannot deny a client medication for any reason. After my email, staff was all, ‘oh I never said you couldn’t have your meds, come down for meds and you can do a breathing treatment.’ Staff totally changed their tune and was overly pleasant.

Saturday I planned to porch drop my daughter’s laundry that I had to do at the laundromat Monday, and I porch dropped Thai takeout. Saturday the staff suddenly dropped the isolation rule and my daughter was even invited to go on a van ride to a nearby park with the other housemates, so they could walk and get fresh air.

The porch drop went fine, except the new shoes I brought fell out of the hamper and we didn’t notice, so they are still in the back of my Buick. I’ll drop them off Tuesday when I am in the area for another orthopedic doctor appointment, this time for my right knee.

My son and I watched “Rocketman” for the 3rd time when we got back home. My son is 25 and loves all the music from my era. We have a great time on car rides with SiriusXM 70’s, 80’s, 90’s music.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020

Sunday Stealing-The Very Odd Questions

Welcome to Sunday Stealing, one of the longest running memes around. Our current host is Bev. Please visit here to join in the fun.

Bev says:

This is a rather odd set of questions, stolen from MimiWrites

(Thanks for the suggestion from The Gal Herself)

1. How many gravy boats do you have in your kitchen? Two. I have one in a Christmas pattern that matches my Christmas dinnerware, and one that is made by Crockpot that keeps the gravy warm.

2. Do the clothes in your laundry basket need ironing?  I rarely iron. I iron my dress clothing before an event. I also iron while sewing. I fold most of our clothing and smooth out the wrinkled as I fold. Anything with persistent wrinkles goes in the bottom of the hamper so the weight of the items above gets rid of the wrinkles. If I’m going to wear a button down shirt and have no time for ironing I will use Downey Wrinkle Release. I will do the same to polo shirts with persistent wrinkles.

3. What is the last thing you wallpapered? Hell to the no! I do not wallpaper. I had a large rectangular room in my house in Chicago that had horrible flocked wallpaper. It was a nightmare to remove.

4.  Wooden floors or carpet? Either. Depends on the room. Wooden floors have to be real wood, not the fake crap. And no parquet wood flooring. I have it in my kitchen and dining room and I hate it. It’s too dark and seems dated with my light oak cabinets and dining set.

5.  Why do we put out guest towels if no one is supposed to use them? I never have guests anymore. Well, especially now with the coronavirus. Even before that I rarely had guests. If I am expecting guests and I have time, I will put out my newest towels. I don’t have any guest towels per se.

6.  If your spatula could talk, what would it say about your duvet? I don’t currently have a duvet. I lost it with my favorite down comforter when my basement flooded. ☹️ Which spatula? I have about 5, 9 if you count spoontulas.

7.  Have you replaced the batteries in your smoke alarms this year?  Technically yes. I put out new battery operated smoke detectors and installed brand new batteries. I have a wired smoke detector system throughout the house, but a couple of them don’t work, so I bought the battery operated ones for those areas.

8. If you could put thyme in a bottle, what is the first thing that you'd like to do? The first thing that I'd like to do

         Is to save every day
        ‘Til eternity passes away
         Just to spend them with my wife.

Love Jim Croce. And if you are talking about thyme, the spice, I’d make a vinaigrette. 🙂

9. Do eggs really crack or do they merely have a nervous breakdown? I’ve never observed psychotic symptoms in food, so I would have to say they really crack.

10. Why are you whipping the butter? What did it ever do to you? 

If I happen to have my Kitchenaid Mixer out, I will whip a stick or two of butter because incorporating air makes it go farther. It’s expensive.

11. Do your spoons spoon in the drawer? Have you ever noticed? And more importantly, if wooden spoons spoon do they get splinters?  Actually, they don’t spoon because they are stacked on top of each other, back to front. So what would you call that? Cowgirl? Cuz it’s not Reverse Cowgirl. 🤭 I only have 1 wooden spoon, so I would think he may be lonely.

12. You hear: "Dumpling, my Dumpling, come hither." The candles are lit, the fondue is dipping, the Godiva is pouring, the scallions are steaming and the music is playing.....but wait, the windows are open.  Why did you close them? Umm, when did we time travel to a period where “Dumpling” and “come hither” were common in the lexicon? And if time travel is possible, I’m sure I’d bypass that time period.

13.  Do you need a recipe to cook or are you a bohemian chef? I do both. If it’s something I’ve cooked more than a few times, or recently, I will go bohemian.

14. Is your pot black?  No, my big pot is stainless steel.

15. What is the sexiest spice or condiment in your cabinet?  What makes it so? I’ve never thought of my spices or condiments as having sex appeal, but I betcha I have way more than most people because I cook all types of cuisine. Italian, Mexican, Indian, Puerto Rican, Chinese, and more.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020

Day 84 of Sheltering In

Friday. My daughter had her coronavirus test this morning at 11am and was told she must isolate for 72 hours. The nurse at the group home office said she would let the staff know they still needed to get my daughter her medication as prescribed. Staff refused to get my daughter her diabetes medication at 4pm. She is due for her mental health medications at 8pm. My daughter has contacted her Team Lead leaving her a voicemail. I texted her Team Lead. Crickets. This isn’t rocket science folks! Give my daughter her damn medicine as prescribed. Put the pills in a bottle or ziplock bag and toss it to my daughter at the top of the stairs. Call my daughter and tell her to go to the front porch and put that bottle or bag on the porch and watch my daughter through the damn window as she takes her medications. My blood is boiling right now. Are they forkin morons that they can’t figure this out on their own? They don’t need to rig a damn dumb waiter outside to a 2nd floor window, but they need to figure out SOMETHING! There are all kinds of ways to get her medication to her without being near her.

I 

may 

need 

bail 

money.

I had my PT Eval for my shoulders. Not only did they make me move my painful arms and shoulders in unnatural ways and take measurements, they also started PT. OMG! I hurt so bad right now. The situation at my daughter’s group home isn’t helping because it’s making me tense and making the arms, shoulders and back hurt more.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020

Day 83 of Sheltering In

Thursday. No tests today for my daughter. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m just not gonna go there. I am fed up with the bs between the staff and the office...enough! My daughter is supposed to go for the coronavirus test Friday. I’ve explained the procedure several times and let her know that the swab is not nearly 12 inches long like they showed on the news. It’s 5” long, maybe a bit less. I also explained how far it goes and what it felt like so my daughter knows what to expect and doesn’t ruminate on it until the test. I talked to her several times today because of Nutjob issues. She didn’t once mention the test. 👏

I go for PT eval Friday. At least 1 of the people who worked with me when I last went there is still working there. So that’s cool. The receptionist called out to one of the therapists to see if they could fit me in Friday. The receptionist said my name and the therapist remembered me. All the therapists were kind of chatty. It was almost like having friends. (Wow that was pathetic!) It’s weird though because it’s not that big of a place, so with social distancing I wonder how many patients will be there. I’m looking forward to the tens unit and full back ice pack. I wonder if they’ll do that or just drape ice packs over my shoulders? I’m hoping for both. Last time I went for an extended period it was for my back and they also did heat/ice packs on my neck after the store accident. I’m hoping “the creeper” doesn’t work that location anymore. He was really creepy, let’s just leave it at that.

I almost had a fall today. I was able to stop myself. I was getting dressed, putting on a pair of chinos and I lost my balance and almost did a face plant. I stopped myself by putting my hand on top of the nightstand. I’m pretty sure I sprained 2 fingers. Right hand, 2 middle fingers. Not cool. I usually use my cane with my right hand. I can’t now because of some swelling and pain, which makes me unsteady. How do I know I sprained them? Because I can move them, so they aren’t broken. What’s with that logic? I’ve been hearing that since I was a kid. ‘It’s not broken if you can move it.’ I briefly contemplated going to urgent care, because now I can with my new insurance. But I didn’t because I really don’t want to go to a medical place with the coronavirus going on. When I got tested it was drive-thru, and the tech wore PPE head to toe, including a face shield. I didn’t need to get out of the car. The tech looked like Marty McFly in “Back to the Future” when he blasts Van Halen from his Walkman when he put 🎧 on his dad’s ears and makes him think he’s an alien. I didn’t need to go in the hospital, but if I went to urgent care, I would have to go in. 

I think my brother in law is coming over Friday to not mow the backyard again. If it would actually look like he trimmed the trees and bushes I wouldn’t complain. But it didn’t look like any yard work got done when he was here the last time. I can’t remember if he was here Wednesday, or Tuesday. 

I can’t remember shirt lately and it’s terrifying me. I mean nearly every conversation lately I start talking and stop mid sentence and can’t remember what I was going to say. Sometimes it will come to me in a minute or three, other times I just can’t remember anything about what I started talking about. Yesterday I wrote and sent a fairly long email. I went back to read it later to my daughter and multiple sentences made no sense, words out of order. I was getting interrupted a lot, so perhaps that’s why it makes me sound like an idiot. I mean, my blog posts lately haven’t been like that, right? 

When I made all those calls to my new insurance on Wednesday someone told me that due to the coronavirus, no referrals are needed for specialists. If I have enough time Friday I think I will call again and ask. If it’s true I’m going to call the C Center and see if I can get my checkup scan this month instead of waiting until December. 🙏🏻 I can do that.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020

Day 82 of Sheltering In

Wednesday. The storms yesterday were awful. Tornados close to us.

Another day on the phone with insurance. Still no callback, and the 3 different people I spoke with in customer service had no idea what to say. The pharmacy department is the only one I got correct information from the first time I called them. Customer service on Monday gave me all ophthalmologists phone numbers. I specifically said I’ve already had my annual exam, I need an optometrist so I can get an exam and new eyeglasses. I was emailed 3 pages of doctors. Since I was on the phone all day I didn’t have a chance to research them. Monday I was given 6 places to call for a specialist. I googled each one and checked them out in HealthGrades, WebMD, and Vitals. All of them had horrible reviews. I talked to customer service today, the person said they would email me a 15 page list of in network doctors. I never got it. I got the Optomotrist list in less than 5 minutes. I checked my spam folder, wasn’t there either.

I may be doing a porch drop of my daughter’s clean laundry, new shoes, and magazines. I give her my magazines when I’m done with them. She reads them and then cuts them up to make collages. I have a bunch of subscriptions I got free with AARP rewards points. She has to go for chest x-rays, the coronavirus test, and some other test. Yup, our doctor wants her to have the test. Her asthma has been bad and he’s thinking she may have bronchitis, but wants to rule out the coronavirus. I’m not saying anything to the in-law who told me ‘I hope they don’t tell you that you’re positive just so they can increase the coronavirus numbers.’ I was also told by this person that the coronavirus is a hoax. Tell that to some people who had a family member die from the coronavirus. And don’t tell them their loved one really died of something else and coronavirus was listed as cause of death just to increase the coronavirus death toll. Honest to God! I could have sworn this person was intelligent. This person is going off the rails and I hope won’t need to be hospitalized. My wife concurs. I stopped watching their Facebook Live posts because I couldn’t take watching because this person clearly is one taco short of a combo platter. I think it’s safe to say I am somewhat of a lay person expert on the subject, having watched my kids have breaks, and that other person. It’s not pretty, and believe me when I say, I can tell by watching this person. If you want to know what this person most likely has, PM me, or put leave your email address in the comments and I will send a reply.

My daughter found out that IDPH has announced that day programs will remain closed through August 31, 2020. It did not specify that the lockdown will also continue until then. Wow! Just wow! But it may be very likely.

I will likely hear from the Director or Asst Director on Thursday because I sent an email about what’s going on at the group home my daughter is at. Someone stole 3 boxes of my daughter’s albuterol vials, leaving her with zero. She badly needs to use her nebulizer because she has had bad asthma attacks and probably has bronchitis. Well, either stole or gave them to a housemate that has asthma. If they were expired, then my daughter should have been notified so she could get refills. I’m betting on one of the first 2. 

Nutjob continues to terrorize my daughter. Yesterday Nutjob was kicking my daughter. Nutjob screamed at my daughter saying she will come pounding on her bedroom door in the middle of the night tonight.

My brother in law is coming over to not mow the backyard again. Yes, you read that correctly.  He bought a bunch of stuff for my daughter’s group home. Socks, colored pencils, and he was going to pick up a few more things I suggested. (He asked me, I wouldn’t suggest if he hadn’t.) I told him sunscreen, poster board, construction paper, coloring books, acrylic paint, wood crafty stuff to paint, bandanas, and hats. The bandanas and hats are for keeping cool outside in the heat. He was going to donate some stuff to the homeless shelter he stayed at for over a year, but they won’t take donations, so he wants to donate to my daughter’s group home.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020